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“You don’t even belong here! Go back to where you came from!” I remembered their harsh voices so clearly. “Stupid Asian! Go back to China!” And then I remembered Amber’s voice, so soft and sweet. “Kyoya just leave…” Even as she told me words that stabbed my heart, I didn’t hate her for saying it. I didn’t know what I thought of her anymore, but hate wasn’t it.
“Hey everyone check out the new kid! He’s from Korea!”
I felt butterflies in my gut as all eyes fell on me as soon as I entered the room and headed straight to a seat.
“He’s dressed funny, like a waiter…” someone whispered.
“Are all Asians dressed like that?”
“Don’t be so stereotypical. Haven’t you seen the miniskirts and knee-high socks the girls wear?”
“Um, yeah, dude, you’ve seen too many pornos…”
I kept my head down and tried not to listen to all the voices. Did they think I was deaf?
“He’s kinda cute though,” a girl whispered really low.
I looked up automatically and laid eyes on the beautiful girl smiling at me. She stood up and walked over to me. “Hi, I’m Amber. Welcome to America.”
I smiled back, but before I could talk a tall boy with a letterman jacket on wrapped his arm around her neck and kissed her. “Babe, he don’t speak English.”
I straightened up taking offense. She laughed, shoving him off. “You’re not exactly an English major yourself.”
Everyone laughed and he glared, looking back at me. “I’m Dean, the quarterback for our football team,” the boy stuck his hand out.
I shook it. “Kyoya.”
Dean looked around and laughed. “Is that hello in Chinese or something?”
Amber slapped his stomach. “It’s his name, genius.”
I could tell I already didn’t like him. My brother warned me about people like Dean; the type of guy that focused more on sports and chasing miniskirts than on education, the type of guy that thought he could do whatever he wanted to girls.
“Alright class, settle down. You’ve all met Kyoya so let’s get right to work.” The teacher wrote her name on the board and started on her lesson.
I took notes and listened intently. Halfway through the class I felt something hit the back of my head. It was a paper airplane with letters on it with a sloppy handwriting. Stay away from my girl. I looked up at Dean and he was glaring at me. I glanced at Amber who smiled at me and waved.
School went by quickly with no more interruptions or encounters with the exception of Dean and his distant threats. At the end of school, I grabbed my shoulder bag and headed on my way to my house.
“Hey, Kyoya!” I heard someone yell. I turned around and saw Amber running up to me. I couldn’t help the smile on my face. “Hey, I just wanted to talk to you. Wanna grab a smoothie?”
I nodded and she took the lead as we headed to a local hang out place. “So you’re from Korea?” She asked once we got our drinks.
I nodded, sipping my blueberry blast smoothie.
She rolled her eyes. “I know you can speak English so knock it off.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I speak very good English, but no one wants to listen.”
She grimaced. “Dean’s just an asshole. Ignore him.”
I chuckled. “And you love him?”
She shrugged nonchalantly. “He’s my boyfriend. Of course I like him.”
I didn’t believe her for a second. Americans were terrible liars, all emotions could be read in their eyes. I think everyone was like that though, not just the Americans I’d met.
“So you’re in America for good?”
I shook my head. “Just for the semester.”
“How do you like it so fa—“ Suddenly her cell phone rang and she apologized answering it. “Hey Dean. No, I just grabbed a smoothie. I’ll be right there.” She hung up and frowned. “Sorry I have to go. It was nice to meet you, Kyoya.” I waved as she fled the place to get back to Dean in time.
The rest of my days in the American school were very similar. Dean would shove me around every now and then, when he thought I was looking at Amber…and he was right. Amber was an angel, I was falling for her and I think she was falling for me too. I didn’t understand why she stayed with him. We’d hang out after school while Dean played football. I knew he was getting suspicious by the way he was treating Amber. It made me mad how he disrespected her, but she insisted he was just stressed for the big game coming up. Apparently he was really sweet and kind when they were alone because I never saw the side she talked about.
“Kyoya, we’re having a huge party at my house for homecoming tonight. My parents are gone for the weekend, so it’ll be great. I want you to come,” she tucked her hair behind her ears and smiled.
“Yeah, of course I’ll be there,” I smiled back.
She squealed, hugging me. “Great, I can’t wait! See you there!” She ran off to meet up with Dean, who was glaring at me.
I glared back and walked away. I was getting tired of him. That night I rode my bike to Amber’s house. Music could be heard thumping through the walls, cars were parked on the yard and around the back of the house. Red cups scattered the lawn, leading up to the house. I went to knock, but it was already open. Hesitantly, I walked into the house filled with tightly pressed bodies. Everyone was dancing with cups in their hands, drunk. Neon sticks were being waved in my face as they danced around with them. I couldn’t find Amber anywhere, so I made my way through the house looking for her.
“Kyoya, you made it!” I heard someone yell over the music. I turned around to look and bumped into someone. I looked and saw I had spilled Dean’s drink all over him. A girl in a blue wig—who I now recognized as Amber—busted up laughing next to him.
Dean was furious and he wiped himself off, taking his shirt off. He looked like he was ready to kill me. Amber pushed against his chest, holding him back. “Go clean up, Dean. you know it was an accident.”
He walked off to the bathroom and Amber took my hand, leading me out of the house, she was still laughing. “I’m so sorry about that,” she laughed.
I laughed with her. “Did you see the look on his face?”
She nodded, walking towards the big oak tree in the front yard by the road. “That was priceless.” She leaned against the tree and finished her drink with a smile.
I stood in front of her, watching her adoringly. Tonight was the night I decided I’d tell her how I felt. I didn’t care about Dean and I knew she didn’t either. I was better than Dean anyway. I took in a deep breath and exhaled.
“Amber, I…like you.”
She smiled. “I like you too.”
I chuckled, moving closer. “No, no…I like like you. A lot.” I made myself clearer.
She grinned, “I know…I like you, too.”
I smiled. “Really?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“So will you dump Dean and finally give me a chance?” I begged, finally having hope.
Amber frowned. “Kyoya…I may like you but…I love Dean. I can’t choose between like and love. It’s…hard to explain.”
Her words stabbed me. “Amber…”
She shook her head. “Look I really like you and maybe one day…who knows.”
I leaned against the tree, trapping her between my arms. “Please give me a chance.” I leaned in to kiss her.
“What the fuck are you doing with my girlfriend?” Dean yelled from the porch. He ran towards us and I raised my hands. Before I could stop him, he punched me in the face.
I fell backwards, wiping my nose.
“You think you can cheat on me, you whore?” He was yelling at Amber. He shoved her against the tree, and all the fury that I had for him exploded in flash of red.
I got up and tackled him to the ground, throwing punches left and right. I knew he was a quarterback, but he was also drunk. All the built up anger was unleashed and he couldn’t even fight back. His face was completely bloody and he was too weak to hold his head up anymore.
“Kyoya, what are you doing?! Stop! You’re hurting him!” Amber was screaming at me, trying to pull me off of him.
I stood up and wiped my bloody nose again, anger left my body as fast as it came. All the kids in the house came out to see what the screaming was about and saw Dean on the ground. They looked at me and then at Amber crying. Everyone started yelling profanities at me and I backed up. I looked at Amber, her mascara running from her tears.
“Just go…” she whispered, holding Dean.
I tried to speak but no words came out. I didn’t know what just happened. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t regret what I had done to Dean, but I regretted coming to this place. All the time I had spent with Amber meant nothing to her. She still loved the asshole, Dean. What more could I do? Sirens could be heard in the distance and I backed away, running into the woods. When the sirens faded in the distance, I lay down and rested, thinking back on all that had happened. I didn’t belong here. They were right…
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